Calgary Dinos' Mambi Diawara, left, shoots over McGill Redmen's Francois Bourque during the first half of semifinal action in the USports men's basketball national championship in Halifax on Saturday, March 10, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese ORG XMIT: DBC109

All they want for Christmas is to build on momentum.

Fresh off an upset victory over the Alberta Pandas, the University of Calgary Dinos (2-9-0-2) head into the final weekend of 2018 with three games on tap.

The first two on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (3 p.m.) see them take on the No. 1 Manitoba Bisons (8-3-2-1) at Father David Bauer Arena, and they wrap it up with a make-up game against the host Pandas (8-3-2-0) on Sunday in Edmonton.

Due to last Saturday’s game against the Pandas being rescheduled, the Dinos and the Pandas will complete the back-end of last weekend series Sunday (3:30 p.m.) at Clare Drake Arena.

In the front end of the series, the Dinos held on for a gutsy 2-1 victory against the No. 2 Pandas, with assistant captain Delaney Frey sealing the win late in the third period.

Less than two months ago, the Bisons hosted the Dinos to open the Canada West season, winning both games by a combined score of 7-2.

The opening weekend sweep for the Bisons was propelled by six different goal-scorers, including Sheridan Oswald, who tallied the game-winning goal in the second game.

This weekend matchup will see two of the top three minute-grabbers in net, with the Bisons being led by Lauren Taraschuk, who has played over 731 minutes this season, while her counterpart in Dinos goaltender Kelsey Robert has racked up 728 minutes played thus far.

Taraschuk and Roberts sit two and three respectively that category, with only Zoe DeBeauville of the Mount Royal Cougars with more minutes played at 807.

In the last five years between these two teams, the Bisons have had the advantage, winning 13-of-14 games, sporting a 5-1 record in road games.

The Bisons lead Canada West with 40 goals scored on the season.

Calgary’s Laine Grace is third in assist totals for defenders in Canada West, currently sitting with five, just one back of Manitoba’s Erica Reider and Rylind Mackinnon of the UBC Thunderbirds.

DINO’S WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Dinos women’s basketball team come into its home-and-home series against the Lethbridge Pronghorns on a five-game win streak, looking to wrap up the 2018 schedule on a winning note.

The first game was played Thursday night in Lethbridge followed by a game Saturday back home in the Jack Simpson Gym (5 p.m.).

“Lethbridge (5-3 prior to Thursday night) is a very deep team with multiple offensive weapons particularly,” said Dinos head coach Damian Jennings. “Our defence is in for a very tough test, and much of our preparation has been linked to that scout.”

In the second win by the Dinos (7-3 prior to Thursday night) last weekend against the Bisons, centre Michaela Nieuwenhuizen had a defining performance for her season. Nieuwenhuizen put up 16 points on 50% field-goal shooting, which is the inside presence that this Dinos team needs to complement its back court.

The Dinos have shown that they are much more comfortable offensively in recent games, and that is an important component in their recent success. Fourth-year guard Erin McIntosh has been showing maturity on the offence, averaging 18.4 points per game during their five-game win streak. The Dinos have been averaging a staggering 23-point margin in their last five wins, and they are going to be looking to continue that trend against the Pronghorns.

The Pronghorns are ranked six spots behind the Dinos in Canada West at eighth in the coaches’ poll.

The Dinos swept the Pronghorns two games to none last season

The Dinos average 7.5 more points per game than the Pronghorns this season, while the Lethbridge side allows 2.2 fewer points per game than Calgary does this season and the two programs are close in rebounds per game with 42.1 and 43.2 per game respectively.

DINOS’ MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Dinos men’s basketball team will wrap up the first half of the season this week as it hopes to finish off strong in a home and away series against the Pronghorns.

The two teams played Thursday in Lethbridge. On Saturday, the teams rematch with the Dinos (10-0) hosting the Pronghorns (4-4) at The Jack (7 p.m.).

With the undefeated season on the line every night, this could be one of the Dinos’ toughest matchups thus far. The Pronghorns and the Dinos are good both offensively and defensively. Calgary’s Mambi Diawara is sitting fourth in the league in points per game with 19.7, while the Pronghorns boast Mike Pierzchala, who is averaging 18.8 points per game, which is seventh in Canada West.

Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren believes the Pronghorns high-powered offence could be a great test for his team. Lethbridge leads Canada West with 91.9 points per game.

“Well … they like to shoot the ball early and play with a high tempo,” Vanhooren said. “There is not a lot of secrets. It’s going to be a matter of whether we can be smart enough to take good shots and sort of play the money-ball game with them where we take better shots than them and we rebound the ones we want them to take.”

The Pronghorns also get to the free throw line a lot, with 26.1 free-throw attempts per game.

The Dinos are second in Canada West in steals per game with 10.7, while the Pronghorns are first in Canada West. The Dinos and the Pronghorns will have to take care of the ball offensively as points off turnovers could decide who wins the game. The Dinos are first in points per game allowed, while the Pronghorns are third in Canada West.

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